Buckwheat
Main ingredient of cold noodles is buckwheat, which is presumed to have originated from the cold and barren land around Mongolia. The grain reportedly was introduced into our country in Goryeo dynasty.
Buckwheat is a sugar-rich grain, mainly composed of starch. It is not glutinous, so it should be mixed with wheat flour or other starch to be used as cold noodle.
Or kneading it with hot water has been also frequently done as a good method to complement the weak point.
The cold noodles we normally eat today use buckwheat flour after kneading and pressing them. The glutinous degree and granular feeling of noodle vary according to the mixing ratio with wheat flour or starch as well as mixing skill.
The buckwheat raised generally in Korea contains rutin, 6.3% in flower and 4.52% in leaf. Rutin has been recognized as effective against hypertension, arterial sclerosis, ulcerous disease, hemorrhoids, etc.
The buckwheat helps protect spirit, strengthen stomach and cure chronic diarrhea. From the old days, buckwheat has been used in folk remedies. However, rather than being used directly as a medicine, buckwheat has been generally taken as included in food therapy.
The old medical book ‘Bonchogangmok’ writes that “Buckwheat is useful in making stomach robust, gaining vitality, refreshing spirit and clearing away remnants in the intestines.”
(korfood/korfood4_3.jsp)
